Monthly Archives: March 2017

Two Solis Ortus karatekas, Lilian Mynhardt and Jacques Steenkamp, competed at the KSA Trials, U21/Seniors/Veterans and Masters on 17 and 18 March 2017 in Cape Town.

Beautiful Cape Town, coastal city, second-most populous urban area, nominated World Design Capital for 2014 by theInternational Council of Societies of Industrial Design and of course the host for the KSA Tournament 2017.

It was a tough and hard Tournament. For many an eye opener and learning curve. “The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.” Gichin Funakoshi

Our two karatekas speak of great character in their karate. Lilian fought hard to receive her silver in kumite; and achieved 5th place in kata. Unfortunately Jacques did not receive any medals but went home with tons of inspiration and self-confidence to work hard and get more experience.

Solis Ortus is very proud of you and we admire your courage and self-poise as karatekas of this dojo.

At the trials Sensei Eugene was honoured and nominated as Assistant National Coach for children (7-13 years), kadets (14-15 years) and juniors (16-17 years).

Sensei, form Solis Ortus karatekas and parents, we wish you all the best and success as Assistant National Coach for all young karate athletes during their karate footpaths. They can be proud to have you as one of their Coaches.

After a successful weekend they kissed the foot of old Table Mountain goodbye until next time.

The past month Solis Ortus set the bar high in participating at Tournaments all over Gauteng. We want to congratulate each participant who competed. Many karatekas experienced competing for the first time. Welcome and well done.

Always remember what they say: “The biggest competition is myself. I am not looking to follow others or pull them down. I’m planning to test my own boundaries.”

For some competing is to win, for others it is a social event and then, for a few it is to improve themselves; either personally or in the sport itself. Gianni Versace said: “It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.”

Solis Ortus is a great competitor and also a great achiever. We won 57 medals in 3 Tournaments.

First we had the 25th Eagles Challenge. It was a great friendly tournament to help introduce new competitors to give them a taste of how it feels to compete. We are proud to say that Solis Ortus did extremely well at the tournament and out of the 17 competitors we received 17 medals in total. We want to congratulate everyone who competed.
We are proud to say that Solis Ortus set the bar high at the Tshwane Trials. Twenty karatekas competed and brought back 22 medals. We want to congratulate everyone who competed and those who succeeded through to the GKF Trials.

At the GKF Trials, Solis Ortus achieved 18 medals out of 16 karatekas competed. Well done to everyone.

Solis Ortus sent 5 karatekas to compete in the KSA Children Nationals in Durban; 7 – 17 years old. We wish all the kids the best of luck. Just do your best and know that we are proud of each and every one of you.

We also want to congratulate and wish the KSA U21/Seniors and Veterans; 18 years and older; the best of luck competing in Cape Town.

“High achievers, we imagine, were wired for greatness from birth. But then you have to wonder why, over time, natural talent seems to ignite in some people and dim in others.” Nancy Gibbs

What a privilege to train with 2 sharp and true JKA karatekas at the Solis Ortus dojo; Lorenzo Helena and Melanie Marchbank. They are used to hard training as they are members of the Honbu. Solis Ortus made them feel welcome as there is no other way they train themselves. As they say: “the more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.”

Sensei Eugene is an opponent of great respect as he himself has years of experience and understanding how to train kumite and be a winner. He was SAJKA Men’s Open Kumite champ multiple times.

Melanie Marchbank CA (SA) and a Godan, has a host of achievements in karate, her most recent has been in October 2014 at the Funakoshi Gichin Cup 13th Karate World Championship Tournament in Tokyo Japan; where she fought in the final eight female individual kumite section.

Lorenzo Helena CA (SA) and a Yondan, also competed at the Funakoshi Gichin Cup 13th Karate World Championship Tournament in Tokyo Japan; where he competed in the top16 in the Men’s Kata division.

After a hard kumite class we wish both of them good luck to reach and achieve all their karate dreams for 2017. SO is looking forward to train with them again.

What a weekend! Solis Ortus wants to congratulate all our karatekas who competed this weekend. You all worked so hard for this moment to achieve your highest expectations. Well done. To Solis Ortus you are all CHAMPIONS!

Solis Ortus did exceptionally well this weekend at the JKA Gauteng Tournament held at the Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg on Friday and Saturday. Our contestants were well prepared and their spirits were on a high.

On Friday our Novice Champs (White to Red Belt and Disabled) arrived bright and early at the arena to face their challenge to become National champs in May. They were not deterred by die traffic which we all experienced travelling to the venue. They arrived ready and amped!

Some of the divisions were very big, but our contestants had the heart of a tiger. Competition was tough but with all the preparation and hard work the results were outstanding.

There were 97 divisions in which Solis Ortus participated. The overall standard of the tournament was extremely high and our karatekas never fail to impress.

Solis Ortus had 38 karatekas registered in the Novice and Disabled divisions, and received 56 medals. The first 8 places secured a place to compete for SA JKA National colours in May.

It is amazing to see how each karateka has grown to become the best they can be. They have so much heart in what they do and accomplished their highest expectations. Sensei Eugene is extremely proud of every one of you.

On Saturday the Elite Junior to U/21 and Senior Elite black belt divisions took the floor with a roar. The standard was exceptionally high and some divisions took almost two hours to complete. Solis Ortus contestants persevered and came out on top of each division.

Red belts who aimed to qualify for International participation have to enter the Elite Section at the Provincial Tournament and the National Tournament, and need to be graded to brown belt before the 14th Gichin Funakoshi Cup (JKA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS) in August 2017, if they qualify for the team.

To ensure the selection of the strongest possible team for the 14th Gichin Funakoshi Cup, to be held in Limerick, Ireland on 18th – 20th August 2017, kumite will be judged on a repecharge system.

Solis Ortus had 14 karatekas registered in the Elite division and received 13 medals. The first 8 places secured a place to compete for SA JKA National colours in May.

Good luck to all our karatekas who qualified to go through to SA JKA Nationals in May. Train hard, improve yourself and reach your dream. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

It is always a privilege and honour when people from other Dojo’s visit our Dojo. Last night was no exception on the rule.

Sensei Stephan and two of his students from Steyn Dojo in Potchefstroom did us the honour to come and train with the best kumite Sensei in South Africa; Sensei Eugene Oosthuizen.

The Solis Ortus students welcomed them with great expectation and trained hard with them. Sensei Eugene presented an incredible kumite class with lots of defending and attacking techniques. The class was vibrant, enthusiastic and energetic.

After a great class full of new knowledge and hard work, we can just say thank you to Sensei Eugene and wish our guests a save trip back home and an open invitation to visit again.

3RD –4TH March, Karate South Africa(KSA) hosted the National Championships for Children where all the 9 provinces were represented to be the ultimate Champion of Champs.

Some left Gauteng early in the week whilst others flew down on Thursday to the Dolphin coast. Weighing in took place 2nd March to get everyone ready for the KSA tournament on Friday.

As always Durban weather did not fail to impress Gauteng participants with hot, moderate and cloudy forecasts to partially rain.

Solis Ortus, yet again, did extremely well at the Tournament. Sensei Eugene is a very proud sensei with a smile as wide as the ocean.

Five children from Solis Ortus participated in kumite of which the club received 3 5th places and 2 2nd places. Congratulations to all of you. What an achievement and experience.

The more you compete, the better you become. Your best competition is to improve yourself every time you walk on the tatamis. Pick up your head strive for greatness because our Sensei Eugene believes in you and is very proud of all your achievements.

“If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”

2017 is exactly the year where Solis Ortus wants to prosper in growing people. With all the great qualities karate gives to an individual it is hard not to feel proud to be a Karateka at this dojo.

With hard work and proper planning Solis Ortus reaps the rewards of a very successful first Open Day for 2017. The team invested their time and envisioned with their creativity a master plan to ensure that Solis Ortus grows into the dojo in Pretoria.

At the Open Day event it was such a goose bump moment to see all the Black Belts doing their special routine to make everyone feel welcome and put them at awe. Sensei Eugene introduced what karate was all about and explained what exactly karate can do for an individual; whether it is Fostering Self-Discipline; Boosting Socialization; Skills Encouragement; Physical Activity; Learning to Set and Achieve Goals or to Increase Self-Esteem; Instilling a Sense of Respect; Encouraging Non-Violent Conflict Resolution; Improving Listening Skills; Developing Teamwork Skills or Improvement in Other Areas of Life.

All these skills can be enriched, improved or developed by just doing karate. Karate can be a sport or can become a lifestyle….your choice.

After the introduction every age group from the youngest (4 years old) to the oldest (55 years old) showed their skills in plyometrics, katas and kumite. The audience had the opportunity to see how each belt group developed their skills from the beginning to where they are today. Solis Ortus also has specific training methods to enhance focus, speed and power to improve karate skills as the karateka succeeded to the higher belts. These training methods are in a more fun way.

After all the interest and questions answered, Solis Ortus can feel proud to introduce 50 more karatekas into the dojo. Most of them are white belts….and oh boy….they enjoy every moment of it.

2017 is going to be a mammoth year for Solis Ortus.

Welcome to all the new karatekas of 2017!!! May your karate path be prosperous and your expectations glorious. May you all grow into the best you can be; some of you will succeed as Black belts, some of you may not. But always remember “a Black Belt is a White Belt that never gave up.”

The past month Solis Ortus set the bar high in participating at Tournaments all over Gauteng. We want to congratulate each participant who competed. Many karatekas experienced competing for the first time. Welcome and well done.

Always remember what they say: “The biggest competition is myself. I am not looking to follow others or pull them down. I’m planning to test my own boundaries.”

For some competing is to win, for others it is a social event and then, for a few it is to improve themselves; either personally or in the sport itself. Gianni Versace said: “It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.”

Solis Ortus is a great competitor and also a great achiever. We won 57 medals in 3 Tournaments.

First we had the 25th Eagles Challenge. It was a great friendly tournament to help introduce new competitors to give them a taste of how it feels to compete. We are proud to say that Solis Ortus did extremely well at the tournament and out of the 17 competitors we received 17 medals in total. We want to congratulate everyone who competed.
We are proud to say that Solis Ortus set the bar high at the Tshwane Trials. Twenty karatekas competed and brought back 22 medals. We want to congratulate everyone who competed and those who succeeded through to the GKF Trials.

At the GKF Trials, Solis Ortus achieved 18 medals out of 16 karatekas competed. Well done to everyone.

Solis Ortus sent 5 karatekas to compete in the KSA Children Nationals in Durban; 7 – 17 years old. We wish all the kids the best of luck. Just do your best and know that we are proud of each and every one of you.

We also want to congratulate and wish the KSA U21/Seniors and Veterans; 18 years and older; the best of luck competing in Cape Town.

“High achievers, we imagine, were wired for greatness from birth. But then you have to wonder why, over time, natural talent seems to ignite in some people and dim in others.” Nancy Gibbs